Shaun, I know this video is about Scots, but you touched on Gaelic, and it is on you as a Scottish influencer to not let Gaelic die. It's not enough to just say "well, it's a shame" and move on. I am learning Gaelic on Duolingo. It is easy to learn, and a fun, beautiful language and deserves to be preserved as a living language for the future. You could do some webcasts with Scottish Gaelic speakers, you're much closer to them than the rest of us are, even if you're hundreds of miles away. I was watching some RUclips videos of Psalms being sung in Gaelic at the High Kirk in Stornoway a few weeks ago. I bet there's someone who would love to come on and talk about it with your audience, or someone from the Duolingo community. All these are great ideas for things to do while you can't leave your house. Consider this a challenge from me to you, to begin learning Gaelic in 2021. (edit: I would LOOOVE for you to make videos in Scots, and subtitle it in English for us non-Scots speakers! Maybe not all the time, but every so often, just cut loose in your normal mode of speaking and let us learn)
I’m going to pin this as I think my reply may also be interesting to others: I must admit I disagree. First of all I have always struggled with languages. I learned Portuguese for a solid 10 years before I could speak of - resulting in many tears and a great amount of stress and anxiety. I pushed on because I had to - so I could communicate with my in-laws. Some people are good with languages and others aren’t. I am 100% not. So my first reason would be to avoid much personal anguish. The second reason is something I’m not sure many outside of Scotland know: gaelic is a specific culture in Scotland but doesn’t necessarily represent all of Scotland. Even back in the day when many people spoke it, most in Edinburgh - where I’m from - would not. In fact, ancient Edinburghers would have known Latin before Gaelic. Gaelic highlanders and other Scots were very much different. What I’m trying to say is, Gaelic is a foreign culture to me and I don’t feel the responsibility is on me to keep it alive. That’s not to say I don’t encourage others who would like to do so - including the Scottish government. It’s just not for me. Hope that makes sense. If I was to explain it to someone from the US - assuming you are not Native American ( forgive me if you are). It would be like me telling you to learn and preserve Native American languages. A noble cause though it is, it’s always going to be the people to whom these cultures belong who will ultimately save these languages.Gaelic is no exception. To be clear though, I hugely support anyone and initiatives, aimed at keeping Gaelic alive and would even be happy to help in any way I can. Leaning it myself, though, is probably not something I’ll be able to do.
@@shaunvlog Fair enough. I certainly understand your perspective on this. I tried and failed to learn three different languages in school, and am only learning Gaelic as a labor of love. (Motivation is important, as you noted!) Still, I love your content, and I find Scots to be a fascinating, amazing, and infuriatingly diverse language. Please more!
@@shaunvlog They say people who struggle with languages are great at Maths, and those (like me) who have a flair for picking up different languages, are not strong with Maths, - Guess what? I hate Maths. I'll wager you Shaun will be good at Maths?
I am learning Gaelic through Duolingo, too. I normally go to Gaelic classes, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic classes were canceled (and then put online). Scots is definitely a language.
@@brucemacallan6831 really? I didn’t know that and it doesn’t ring true for me - I am horrible at maths. I am a writer by profession and would say I’m more artistic that mathematic :)
The surest way to destroy a culture is to deny the people their language. Cling passionately to your language. Learn it, speak it, write it and damn the haters.
John Watt i don’t think so as i am a mix person of indian and of white or arab ( not sure where ) i loves my culture and would try to preserve it i am sorry if u don’t like me but i don’t have no bad will towards u (i am just 17)
@@takashi.mizuiro: I don't know why you're saying I don't like you. I looked at my previous reply and I didn't even mention you. I did ask what your user name meant but you didn't answer my question. When you say Indian do you mean from India? Maybe I kaan't hear you with both my kaanu. World War 1 and World War 2 messed up a lot of families, fleeing conquerors across lands and oceans, changing names to fit in wherever they were forced to survive. Being ancestral, being cultural, means you have to want to be that way and work at it to keep it alive. Bay-an-uck-let, blessings on you in Gaelic, the language of The Garden of Eden, now known as Iraq.
@@takashi.mizuiro: I'm glad I'm okay but you still didn't answer my question about your name. I got around and my ancestors got around. We might have been in your country. I can't tell if I don't know where you're coming from.
I'm delighted to see another Scot talking about the Scots language! I hope to see lots of content from Scots speaking RUclipsrs in Scots, so that we foreigners who adore the language can learn it properly! 🏴
Absolutely bang on. I was told NEVER to use my Scots words when I was wee. Otherwise I would be condemned for life. I love that Scots is making a proper comeback, it's braw.
Everyone should use gaelic/scots/doric or anything, bugger those who tell you otherwise! People need to let go of their cringe! My granny had gaelic cringe, told my dad not to bother teaching me but I am so thankful he did! Same with my mum in doric.
@@georgiawillis5787: The difference between Gaelic and English is not saying Proper English. There is Proper English and Standard English. Gaelic is the language of the Garden of Eden. That's why it's secretive for those who speak it.
Dear, I am from Germany! I've spent many years in different parts of Britain, and I loved every place I've been to. BUT the only language that will ever bring a smile to my face is when I hear scottish ppl talk! It is soothing , it is kinda rough and it is so wonderful! There is a special melody to it, that always makes me feel good and smile. Smile, because it makes me comfortabel. Hope, the Independence movement will go for it and win. Hope to see you in the EU. Love ye Scots
I love that you're championing Scots. I've been trying to learn Irish, and it's an uphill battle, but worth it to preserve these amazing languages and history.
My family came over from Scotland probably in the 1920s and eventually ended up in America. One year I had Thanksgiving with one of my great aunties who said grace in Gaelic. That was pretty cool.
My daughter just got accepted to the University of Edinburgh to continue with her Master's in Education, but with an emphasis on Gàidhlig Fluency, teaching it at the primary level. She's thrilled to get to help keep the culture alive. We love your videos 😊
I’m happy to say I already knew almost all the more common scots words you mentioned! My grand nanny from Glasgow used to write funny little poems in scots.
It’s very sad that the few people try to tell others how to speak, dress, and even think. I see it in the U.S. and apparently it’s worldwide I’ve seen lately. Keep being who you are Shawn and be proud of your heritage. I have ancestors from your beautiful Country and your language is real. Every language has slang or local dialect but it’s real and very precious to the culture. Have a wonderful New Year and let’s all pray for a better one. Bless you and your family.
Thanks for the recommendation of Iona Fyfe, her music is gorgeous. I found Len Pennie after coming across this exact conversation on twitter and I love her Scots words of the day videos
Greetings from Athens Greece. I have recently discovered your channel and your videos. I really enjoy watching them all. Even though I am Greek-Canadian, I feel that my heart was born in Scotland! I have lived for a year (1998-1999) in Stirling for my Masters degree. I cant describe how passionate I am about every aspect of this magical country. My wish one day is to live in the tiniest space in Scotland and enjoy the sights, nature, history and culture of Scotland. And a wee bit of Linguistics! If you break up the word Scot-land the first part of it is a Greek word. Scot comes from the Greek word "scotos" which means darkness. So Scotland means the land of darkness or the dark land. Since there is not so much daylight in your country in contrast to Greece. I love learning and listening to Scottish. Very musical and unique. Have a Happy New Year. May 2021 bring the best to you and your loved ones!🌜
Hi Shaun. I grew up reading "The Broons" and "Oor Wullie" and looked forward to receiving the Annuals every year from my Scottish Grandma. I loved reading them over and over, especially because they are written in 'Scots English'. I still have them (I'm approaching 60yrs old) and they are very dear to me.
I think dreich is a perfect word. I can't think of a better sounding word to describe foul weather. I'm no expert on the subject, but to me language is like a game of telephone. As the words pass from person to person, place to place and age to age, they change. It's like everything else in the world. I believe this was particularly true before we had the means to communicate so easily on a global scale. The critical thing is that, regardless of the language, we can communicate. Without that, then all language is truly pointless.
I have said the same thing about ‘dreich’. It’s one of many onamatopoeic Scots words. My mother is from Scotland. She was born in Glasgow to her American-raised Scottish mother and her father who was was born in Glasgow but grew up around Ayrshire also. His family was from Wick up Northeast, so Doric speakers in his family. Love to hear her imitate different family members’ accents and the words they used.
I had the same upbringing. We spoke proper English in the house, if we spoke Scots at all we would get a right bollocking lol As a result though, everyone at school thought we were posh.... Was annoying.
Or English? I can relate to that too but the most common misconception I've had is that I'm English. To anyone non Scottish I have a strong accent though lol.
Lady Asriel: There is Proper English, said to be the language of kings, queen, judges and lawyers, and there is General English, Shakesperian. The big difference in Proper English is saying what you mean and meaning what you say. If you are also living a life of being open and honest it's an awe-full world.
@@belindakennedy5828: Some Scots think English made them stop wearing tartans and speaking their language, others kept doing that up north and if they weren't in Scotland. We're northern islanders and travelers. If a Scots person stands up in public to complain you know there's something wrong with that society. In northern Ontario, when Mackenzie was the first white man to traverse Canada, there's a tribe that's half Cree and half Scots, speaking a mix with some tartan wearing. I use that example because I've been there. And for all this talk about ancient technology and when gods walked the earth, we say "vir na nog", when ancients fell. For me, being a Scot is working to be who you want to be and take after.
@@johnwattdotca lol the lesson was unnecessary. When I say proper English, those were in fact the words my parents used when correcting us. “Speak proper English!” I could correct them by showing them your message but I feel it will not be beneficial 😏
I absolutely love the Scots leid. And have a few buiks in Scots. Unfortunately for me I live in nyc and don't know anyone to speak it with. So I write in English and pepper in Scots words or I try to write as much as I can in Scots instead of English for practise when journaling. Scots the mither tongue is a great resource book and history of the language and the luath Scots language learner is a great workbook that also has an accompanying double cd. (There's a slight lean towards Doric / a northeast dialect in that one) and then i watch comedy and read authors like James kelman for more of the Glaswegian dialect of Scots which is unique and colourfully descriptive. I wish there were more resources, or maybe I haven't found them yet. I hope Scots continues to thrive 🏴💚
From my experience. Im from Poland. Scottish is a real language. Independent language. Scotland have different culture then rest of UK. That’s beautiful. Thats real value. You can be proud of your culture. Well done Scotland
I"m from Romania and sometimes I do not understand nothing from this slang. Even scotish are not understanding one each other. By a way , where is scotish language used? (not gaelic)?
Another RUclipsr once talked about the difference in Scots and English and how you have a few different letters than we do. It was a completely eyeopener. It’s not just a different accent, it is a similar but different language because you have different letters of the alphabet and letter/character combos. Which made your language that much cooler in my eyes. Totally an 😳
Shaun... thank you for this! I just found out a couple of months ago that I am pretty close to a third Scottish. I'm loving these videos about Scots. I'm taking some of the more fun expressions and inserting them into my daily conversations. I love my Scottish heritage and am very proud. I grew up in Kelso, Washington... the founder of our town was from Kelso, Scotland. I soak up just about everything Scottish I can find. This was awesome!
It was my mothers' clan system that gave the world the Holy Bible in English. Scots also invented the encyclopedia, creating the Encyclopedia Britannica, so the people of England and the continent could learn that the peoples of the "new world" weren't just running dogs with no language or prayer, how empire building countries portrayed them. The publishing of the Merriam-Webster English dictionary also helped shape the prophesied global language, and that's not the American Webster.
Every language has loan words. (Except maybe for Basque, but that's another story). Half the Russian vocabulary on words relating to ships is Dutch, thanks to Peter the Great. What evolves into a language, and what into a dialect, or goes extinct, has a lot to do with who's king, or most influential. Latin wasn't the language in pre Roman Italy before the guys from Rome became boss. France had a lot of languages; all died out because Paris was thát important, and actively oppressed the others.
Very interesting video Shaun! And the comments are great too! I love the history of your languages. Speak how you want, but don't every lose your great accent!
I love watching your videos about the places of Scotland, but I appreciate these so much more! Soon we'll be in Europe and having RUclipsrs such as yourself has been SO helpful to understand the culture 💛
An American here. I absolutely love the Scottish accent, and I also love to hear the Scots language. I'm glad so many younger people are embracing Scots.
There's a sort of sliding scale between Dutch and English, where Frisian and Scots are both in between, but Frisian is closer to Dutch and Scots is closer to English. It's pretty neat to listen to and compare these four languages.
My son is a linguist, doing a Masters in Arabic in Leiden. He tells me there's lots of words in Dutch that are similar to Scots, eg we might say "tak a keek" meaning take a look - kijken in Dutch. He speaks 8 languages and says Dutch was the easiest to learn by far as it's so like Scots!
Sounds to me that Scots would be the older language, and English borrowed words from it... and did its best to kill it off. Sad to hear about Gaelic, that there are so few that speak it. Goes to show how important it is to keep traditions alive: to connect us to our past and forget from whence we came. Thanks for your video!
Scots was a variety of English, heavily influenced by Scottish. It is a bit more archaic than other English variants. But they were just the northernmost English.
@@777theprophet its archaic. Meaning where other forms of English changed over time, this particular variant changed at a slower pace. For instance, there are things in both American and British English that the other would consider archaic. But they are both still English. Scots is a seperate language in my opinion, to to low mutual intelligibility. But it once was English.
@@jonathonfrazier6622 There are significant differences between Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. It would be more correct to say that Modern English and Scots are both descendants of Middle English. Both having numerous other influences that shaped their development. To say that "Scots was a variety of English" is to make the same mistake as to say that humans evolved from chimpanzees. In fact both evolved from a common ancestor.
When I started teaching in West Virginia in the 70's, the area was exceedingly isolated, and there was no radio or television access. A number of the original settlers had been Scotch-Irish, and there were still a number of the words used that you just went over today, including dreich, and ken, and dinna. When my husband and I were fortunate enough to visit Scotland in 19, I purchased a tote and a tea towel which had Scots words, several of which I could understand because of the holdover in WV. Unfortunately, when television and radio came to the area, much of that heritage was lost. When we went to Cape Breton in 18, gaelic was being spoken, written, and preserved. I hope Scotland continues to hold on to, and bring back, these languages which are heritage to be proud of. When Covid is over, we hope to again come to Scotland, and continue my learning about my heritage there.
Moggan: The people of the town of Peterhead are referred to by others of the region as 'Bluemogners' (Blue Mogganers) This comes from the 1800's and the whaling industry when (for some reason) the whalers/Sailors of the town went to sea wearing blue leggings or socks. I'm not from there originally, I'm from 16 miles up the road from the town we call 'The Broch' (Fraserburgh) and get what our nick name is as 'Brochers' - 'Puddle-Stinkers' LOL.
Bruce MacAllan - Very interesting. I am going to look into it. To me, there is no guessing why a sailor would wear wool sock or leggings to sea. Now back. Cool. I could only find it by Peterhead, but that worked. It is just as you said, but the spellings are a bit different, but close enough for the girls we go out with. I never knew of such a thing. There are so many variants of wool that I barely knew of. I am allergic to nearly every wool, but my sister said, I have a llama wool yarn that I bet you will not be allergice to, and she knit me a cap of it. She was right. In my generation, leg warmers, of whatever, were supposed to be 'gay', and even tho I'm straight, I have a lot of gay friends. I still love them, including my gay friends in cold weather (meant as a joke). I am wearing wool socks over cotton at this moment, leg warmers on the side. It gets cold here. As to sexuality, as Janis once sang, 'Get it while you can'. In my opinon, love is hard enough to find.
@@Cartamandua The Swedish at the border of Norway has a lot more evident similarities with neighbouring varieties of Norwegian. Doesn't it make it a dialect of Norwegian. Stick to subjects not beyond your depth.
Beyond Our Ken (1958-64) was a radio comedy programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne (1965-68). Both programmes starred Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, with announcer Douglas Smith. Musical accompaniment was provided by the BBC Revue Orchestra. The title is a pun on the first name Kenneth, which hinges on the familiar expression 'beyond our ken' (ken being a now mainly Northern English and Scots word meaning 'knowledge or perception').
Hey Shaun. A very nice video! You mentioned many things on the Scots language and psyche that are common here in Southern Appalachia: amongst ourselves, we speak at least some non standard English, our culture is looked down upon by the more "proper" parts of the country, and we are fiercely proud of the our differences from the the rest of the country. While you were in North Carolina, did you notice this? You mention using language suited to the audience. I work in a multi national and multi regional company. When it is a group of us natives, we speak Hillbilly. When it is with a group of the higher level MGT, we speak std English with a smattering of their dialect, and with all others we use std English. I think linguists call this code switching.
No one is sure about the exact origins of "hill-billie" but you have both the Williamites (billy boys) and the Scots word for "friend/comrade" which is "Billie". Likewise "cracker" is a loud/boaster/talker and to this day "crack" is news +entertainment+talking in Ireland+Scotland. via Scots+english, borrowed into gaelic as 'craic' in the 1970's.
As someone from the red clay of rural Georgia I have to say your perception of "proper" parts of the country vs "where you are", being "fiercely proud of differences" is just in your head. I have that pride of place and dialect and heritage anywhere I live and in each part of the u.s. as I've been to nearly every state people have their own cultures, from towns to regions to counties. Language and dialects of english alone in the u.s. is very diverse. Y'all (ye aa/ye aw) , Y'uns, ye anes (yinz/yuns) are both Scots via the scotch irish.
I’ve heard that English and Scots are two separate languages which both came from a common root language, but split and evolved separately into their own languages as we know them today.
I really enjoyed this vlog, i found it very interesting and was supprised to learn that a few of those words were used by my parents. I grew up with them without knowing their origin. I have Scots heritage but it was so far back that I am impressed that these few words that I knew, traced back 100's of years.
I'm the kind of person who can go to an area, and in about 3 months or so, just by listening, can be 'mistaken' for a native. Now, this was in North America. Moved to British Columbia, Canada. After roughly 3 months, folks could have sworn I was a Canadian from BC. Same thing in North Carolina. It was fun. And pretty satisfying!
Here in Virginia there is an island in the Chesapeake Bay that was populated by several families back before the Revolution. They stay pretty isolated and speak an earlier version of English. Very unique accent but the words sound like in a Shakespeare play.
I love it! As an American, I have to listen hard to understand someone with a good rolling brogue, but I do OK. But I have a friend who'll then throw in a bit of Scots just to keep me humble. I maybe understand one or two words. Now, with your assistance, maybe I'll answer back "Ach, hen, I dinnae ken what you seid," to make her laugh. I hope I can get back to delightful and delicious Scotland this next year! I miss you guys!
When I joined the army I ended up with quite a few Scottish friends. One day a friends wife was having coffee with my wife and ay about 3pm she said, " well I must be getting off I need to be away and get my messages" are you going to the post office said, my wife? No, I want some links for Toms tea. It turned out that her messages was a shopping list and the links were sausages. Thanks for the video, I was feeling a bit Peely-wally before I watched this video now I'm fine. :)
Great blog Shaun. I worked with Scottish soldiers in Iraq who spoke alot of Scot's. I didn't understand them but I thought it was interesting. Of course they spoke English when they talked to me.
micht I suggest ye gie a wee follae on Twitter tae Lenniesaurus an forbye hae a luikie at an buy the buiks by Billy Kay anent the Scots Leid. There is Scots Online, an the Scotls Language Centre an al, an the Scots Leid Associe, an ae-twa fora on FB wi ae focus on the Scots Leid. Dr Michael Dempster his ae series o lecturs on RUclips aboot Scots. Alistair Heather o the Elphinstone Institute is ae ither chiel that kens a guid amoont anent Scots, an the Elphinstone Institute (U of A) itsel is set up, wi the School o Scottish Studies (at the U of E) tae forder the leid Kist o Riches (Tobar an deuchais) is ae source o reordit ensaumples o baith Scots an Gaelic, An oor bonnie quinie, Iona Fyfe is ae ambassador for the Scots Leid an a
@@klcpesan I study Linguistics in southern Bavaria :) I chose a seminar with the title 'Dialects of the British Isles' and considered analysing how Gaelic, Scottish and British English are used in Outlander. But since I have to hold a presentation about Scots, I want to deepen it in a term paper. Sigh, such a beautiful language
@@rosaalbamacdonald5568 I have to admit I didn't understand everything, but just trying to read your comment brings a smile of joy to my face. Thank you very much! I will try my best to follow your advice
@@rosaalbamacdonald5568 “hae a luikie at” is something I say often in English. I spell it “lookee” but it should probably be “lookie”. Ancestry says I have about 30% Scotland DNA. My grandfather was a Burns, so of course we are supposedly related to Rabbie Burns. I’ve been doing genealogy for 40+ years and I’ve never found the connection. Nevermind that my Burns ancestors were in Pennsylvania before Rabbie Burns was alive...
I loved this, Sean. This is reminding me of when I was a younger kid visiting my grandparents in the SE of the state of Kentucky. The people of my grandparents generation would often use words that were not in general use in the rest of the U.S., especially in the Chicago area where I grew up. I would recognize immediately when listening to them speak that the words weren't broadly used in the general conversation that I was used to hearing back home. Since I was rather young at the time, I really didn't think about "recording" these conversations just to have documentation of those really old words. I wish I could have. Now that generation of people are now gone & the people of my generation and beyond just don't use those old words anymore. They've all been influenced by T.V. and radio speech & you just do not hear the old words that were quite common amongst the older generation (these would be the people born around 1900 & older, etc). I can't even think of the old words I used to hear anymore. So sad. I do remember hearing the word "aye" used for yes! And the word "nay" for no. Amazing to still hear those words commonly used in the mid-1960s back when I was a kid visiting my grandparents in the Appalachian region of Kentucky.
Its Scots language via Scots-Irish of Ulster, from West PA down to the South, midland and out west. See 'From Ulster to America' by Michael Montgomery Some of the earliest Ulster scots settled in New Hampshire. Hiberno-irish of the 19th century influence on cities like Chicago, Nyc, boston, NJ etc.
A textbook on linguistics I read once once described Scots (or Lowland Scots) as a separate language to English because of grammar and vocabulary differences. There are obviously similarities too. The textbook said there was as much difference between the two as between Dutch and German which are generally regarded as two different languages although they also have similarities. Dialects do become different languages after time and isolation. But Scots has different roots to English as well, more Germanic than Norman French, perhaps?
Shaun - I’m fascinated by this subject. Please do another but this time include whole phrases and sentences. This Yank is dying to hear the overall rhythm and sound. And thank you for covering Outlander so beautifully.
Ae thing - dinna say thit fowk dinna say dinna ;) It's definitely mair o a Doric word, but certainly no a thing o the past. Dinna is maistly NE. Same wi 'didna'.
The -na ending is common in Orcadian for negatives: widna, deudna, couldna etc. Also Orkney folk use -an where English has -in, e.g. winderan, dooan. spikan.
Really interesting. I grew up in Australia as a child of Scottish parents who met in Australia. Mother from Hamilton and Father from Stevenston. They also belonged to Caledonian Societies as I grew up so I understand most Scottish language, but I must admit I did not know the words which you mentioned were from Edinburgh. I'm guessing that's because my parents were from the west coast. Scottish is definitely a language, which also contains different dialects, slang, etc. I would like to look into this more and I hope you could include more about this on your channel. Thankyou for sharing.
As an older Scot I well remember back in the 1960’s at primary school being punished by teachers if we spoke lallans/ Doric/ Lowlands Scots. As the years went past I heard less and less of the language of my parents and grandparents. When I see videos like this I nearly weep at the loss of those words I used to hear as a bairn ( child). While I don’t understand all of the words used in Rabbie Burns poem I did know at least most but I’m thinking the younger generations would find it difficult to understand. There has been a systematic attempt of cultural genocide by the English, Anglo Scots and those who fawn to the powers that be and it’s time for a renaissance. More videos like this young man And Lang may your lum reek!
Scottish gaelic is the branch of Gaeigle ('irish') the Q-celtic branch of indo european. Scots is from the west Germanic branch of old english/anglish and northumbrian.
Another thought. You gave a few examples of Scots words fallen, or more likely pushed out. If these are well enough recorded and attested it provides a great resource of vocabulary. Some of the countries which attained of restored independence had trouble reviving their languages because they lacked vocabulary beyond simple daily conversation. Scots definitely does not have that problem. Outside international technological and scientific vocabulary, you have Scots words for everything. As well as Scots invented a lot of the tech and science language.
From what I gather is English and Scots developed together from AngloSaxon roots but when English went through the great vowel shift and began to incorporate more borrowed Latin based words they diverge drastically.
My son's father came here to Canada when he was 4 or 5 and he was put back a few grades in school because they did not understand his way of speaking. He was so cute. I could never understand his father he spoke so fast and he spoke I do believe the Gaelic Scottish. He was born in Edinburgh. My family is from Glasgow. I think he told me his father played professional Rugby or Soccer....it was over 35 years ago now so I don't remember. By the way my son is your twin he is 34. He has the reddish hair and red beard and he is the only one. LOL now I know why. Its the Scottish in him! Great chat.
I saw a video on RUclips in which an interviewer asked Scottish people on the street whether they could speak Scots. Every one of them knew what the interviewer was talking about. They all recognized that he was not talking about Scottish English. Some said they could speak Scots; others said they couldn't. He then asked the Scots-speakers whether Scots was its own language or a dialect of English, and every one of them acted like they'd never even heard those words, at least not as related to Scots. It was like a cow looking at a new gate. Every single one of them said, "Scots is the way we speak." But they all said that, whatever it was, it was a distinct thing and not simply Scottish English. I found it amusing that they wouldn't even try to answer the question--like they'd never heard such an absurd thing.
Scots is like Norwegian, there are so many dialects that even the next town over might not say words the same, let alone north/south or east/west. There are plenty of things that are said in Scots that link back to some of what is said here. I am an American and learning Norwegian has allowed me to understand a lot of the proto-germanic languages that then later went Germanic. Scots is very much a language and anyone who speaks it should be proud to do so.
I totally believe that Scots is a national language and not a dialect! Although, growing up in Edinburgh I was always told to speak 'properly'... Now I realise that I actually was already!
Its spoken in Donegal (ROI) and Northern Ireland as well. its a transnational language not bound by Scotlands borders. Gaelic is spoken in Nova Scotia as well..
I just downloaded the Iona Fyfe song of Amazon. Its abit more pricey than a typical 99 cent (USD) MP3, but sooo worth it. Thanks for the recommendation, Mr. Shaun.
Strangely enough I know all of the words that you listed first (common use), and a few of the last section (more rarely heard). Strange because I've never been to Scotland. I did live in the Virginia highlands until I was 10 and still have family living there. That part of the State was settled primarily by Scots and a few Irish, and evidently the Scots language was at least partially in common use until two generations ago. Almost the only part of it that still lingers now is the addition of "na," as in "wouldna" or "couldna."
This reminds me of what people in Spain who spoke Galician, Catalan, and othersxwent through during Franco's dictatorship: they weren't allowed to teach their language at school, and weren't supposed to speak it at home, either. It continues to influence attitudes to this day. I've a friend in the north (just outside Aberdeen). Traveling around with her youngest to job sites my first full day, I noticed how the Doric was more pronounced when one of the guys from work called him on the phone vs when he was talking to me. Seems like it would be enough to make a person schizophrenic after a while. Because of this friend, I use "driech"(like you, I find it phonetically perfect for ehat it's describing), "blether", and "numpty" on the regular. "Crabbit" still hasn't worked its way in yet. 😄 Shaun, would you know of any authors who write in Scots? I read Anne Donovan's "Buddha Da",and enjoyed that(although it wasn't written in proper full-on Scots, I don't think). Would love to read others, if you or your viewers have any suggestions.
Yup, my gaelic grandparents were beaten at school if they used it. So they were fluent but could not read or write in gaelic. I'm living just outside Aberdeen (my mum is doric speaking) and dreich is the most useful word 😂
@@klcpesan 🙂 I had to look that up to see where it was, as it didn't sound familiar (though Denhead does). I was there supposedly for a few days, but she wanted me to stay the entire 10. Traveled around pretty much the north coast to coast with her son the first day, checking on job sites and keeping him awake while driving. Another day, we went to Skye and back (same day, as she was hosting an AFS student from Hong Kong, so thatcwould have meant 2 hotel rooms). And the student and I were down to Edinburgh one day on the bus, back the same day. Sadly, didn't see much of Aberdeen or Skye! Next time! 🙂
As a child growing up in Dunfermline, my mother often told me to speak properly. So in school, I was taught English. With my friends, I spoke Scots. There is a political side to this. We have been taught that `Scots is slang and we’re not properly educated if we speak it. My job involves speaking to people all over the UK on the phone. I often put in a Scots word or two and it seems appreciated. In the early days of broadcasting a specific kind of English was used. Lord Reith, a Scot, was the worst (I think) for holding down Scots and Scotland. We got the White Heather Club with traditional dancing, music and, of course, kilts and tartan. And up until recently Scots were portrayed as drunkards, thieves and ne’er do wells. This carried over to accents and language. All my life I’ve spoken Scots and I’ve used Scots slang as well. Our language doesn’t just derive from English. We have French, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, German, Gaelic, Polish etc as well. We have traded internationally and people have moved here from abroad. They’ve all left their mark. I love my language and use and promote it whenever and wherever I can. Great that you are doing things like this. Keep it up. Stay safe❣️
I find this discussion fascinating! As an African American, I have been a part of similar conversations as it pertains to what many consider slang or improper English and the African American community. Many linguists would consider the "slang" that some African Americans speak to be it's own dialect, African American Vernacular English (AAVE). It has rules and structure, much the same way I assume Scotts has. I also find this conversation fascinating because Scotts in the UK is viewed much the same way AAVE is in the US. It's kind of looked down upon as being lower class, spoken by the poor and or uneducated when it should simply be viewed as it's own dialect or language.
Shaun - I'm pretty sure that you have heard of a Fox hunt, but have you ever seen one? About 35 years ago, my wife to be and I, were living in the Slave Quarters of an old estate, on the north shore of LI, NY, by the kindness of others. We were a few blocks from the local waters, and only lived there by the will of others. We knew the people around enough that we were given their blessing. We paid small rent, but caretakered as well. In the community of such 30 acre farms, or more, that surrounded us, we were newbies. There was a tradition of a 'Fox Hunt', as we came to know. They came to our door, people we knew, to warn us that next Saturday they would be doing a Fox Hunt that ran thru our property, so, best to keep your dog and cat indoors. Why, I asked? My dog is 3 times or more the size of the little Beagles you run around. Yeah, but they are crazed and run in a pack. So, I took their advice. There were a few fox around, very few, but that is not the point. Someone would take a sack soaking of fox urine (the source of which I don't know), and ran it around the grounds for the dogs to trace. As a pack of dogs, as my near wife and I went out to observe, they were quite manic about it. Of course, there was no Fox in reality, but the small Hounds tracked it to a particular tree. Someone would take a ceremonial shot to the tree that the sack had been tied up to, and that was the end of the story. No fox, dog or cat, being harmed in the story. Interesting tho, they were all dressed up in what I could only call proper British horse riding gear, soup to nuts, helmets and pantaloons. So odd, as they otherwise didn't do that, but for the fox hunt. There was a tradition and formality about it.
I live in North Carolina where a lot of the dialect (I'm now learning) originated from the Scottish settlers. (My husband's family were some of the Scottish who settled here in the 1700's.) Along with what you said in your video, the English descendants always say that North Carolinians sound uneducated. I know this first hand as my ancestors were English settlers in New York. I was not born in NC and was told not to talk with the"Southern Dialect" (as I've now learned is Scottish) after we moved here. I didn't begin speaking the NC way for years and years due to my family saying it wasn't proper English. Now, knowing it's origin, I gladly speak with Southern dialect. After studying the history of what the English did to Scottish culture there, I do hope that the language and dialect are revived in Scotland. (Also, I teach English to U.S. immigrants 😉)
First of all my pajama pants have the exact tartan print as your shirt. I'm from New Orleans but i'm in daily contact with my friend in Edinburgh. Who i have either said madainn mhath or feasgar math for the last 2 years. She has educated me on some of those words like dreich and aye and haar we use the words when talking to each other. I'm gonna incorporate aye right in there. There's another phrase. Not sure of the spelling haud yer weesht or weest i forget. Love the video and learning more words.
"Radge" is from Romany "Raj" - with the same meaning. I've yet to see a detailed explanation of why Edinburgh Scots has so many words from the Roma, e.g. "Gadgie." Was there a settlement of travelling people that stopped travelling and settled in the Niddrie area? When I was a kid, those words were pretty much confined to folk from Niddrie, then, in the 60s, it began to be fashionable for young people to use them more generally. I remember thinking it funny that middle-class Edinburgh kids were using what we called "Hawker Talk" or "the Cant." A lot of the words you seem to think are our versions of Modern English words are nothing of the sort. "Heid" is a prime example. It's a continuation of the Middle English pronunciation of "Head." Both Scots and English descend from dialects of Middle English that went down different evolutionary paths. Our version, "heid", actually precedes the modern pronunciation common in England. We didn't borrow it and change it, it's always been "heid."
That’s an interesting observation, that people assume Scots is borrowing from English were as you contend that both languages developed it from Middle English. That makes complete sense. I can say being a Portuguese speaker and then a Spanish speaker that’s there explanation for the common vocabulary words and 75% common grammar between those languages because they were derived from Latin. I think you have explained the likely scenario.
@@brianlewis5692 Makes sense, Romany "Raj" really means "Lordly" - obviously related to the Hindi word (Gypsy ancestry has been traced back to what is now Rajasthan). There might be some conflation of the two given that a haughty demeanour is often associated with short temper. Other Romany terms in Edinburgh dialect nowadays are "Barry/Barra" - good or great (from Romany "Baro" with the same meaning - compare Hindi "Burra" as in "Burra Sahib"), "Chory" - to steal, and "Chavvy" - a young lad. These appear in other dialects in these islands, e.g. in SE England, "Chav" has taken on the meaning of a rather vulgar young person - perhaps because gypsies tended to dress flashily? "Gadgie" occurs elsewhere with varying meanings. It derives from Romany "Gacho" or "Gadjo" meaning a male non-gypsy, but in Edinburgh has come to mean any man. When I lived in Spain, I was intrigued to discover the use of words like "Gachó" - non-gypsy man (although "Payo" is more common), and "Chaval" for a young lad is now seen as a fully Spanish word.
You must also remember the Union of the Crowns in 1603 saw the migration of Court away from Edinburgh and Stirling to London. As a partial result of this Scots ceased to be the language of State and Government and was gradually replaced by English.
Hey Shaun! I have heard about this argument before, but I think Scots is recognised as a language separated from English by linguists that study languages in the UK, and there is a theory that actually if you would not be part of the UK and out of English influence, the Scots language would have kept on evolving until it was too different from English to be considered slang. There are a number of languages like that everywhere in the world, and it's good that you mentioned Portuguese and Spanish. I speak Spanish and I can understand a lot of Portuguese, but I don't know if you have heard of Gallego or Galego (Galician)? So the issue with this language is that you could really think it is Spanish or Portuguese with different accent, but it is actually a separate language from both, recognised in Spain as a separate language from the Autonomous Community of Galicia, it is spoken and promoted in the media as its own. So I believe in the case of Scots, it would be good if the language would be promoted as an actual separate language and maybe some norms developed for it, as they have done in Spain with all these languages that they try to keep alive. Maybe more promotion and use in poetry and literature, etc. Anyway, thanks for the video and take care during the lockdown!
How you describe the attitude to Scots can be found in many places. It was how Lithuanian for hundreds of years. It is how Frisian is treated in the Netherlands. You can find the most extreme held by people who abandoned their language for another spoken by the ruling elite or the country that controlled them. My parents still speak about a man who though born Lithuanian and raised with the language tried to avoid speaking it as much as possible. Even going as far as trying to stop his own family speaking Lithuanian at home. Of course the USSR government eagerly encouraged this particularly against language minorities inside Russia.
There is a dialect of English spoken by very few now. It is mostly heard in certain parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. It's called "Mushmouth". I've heard it spoken by 2 different people that I have met over my life. I could only make out about 75% of what there were saying, and even that was difficult. I think you have a wonderful accent and would love to hear you speak Scots in your videos or even learn a bit of Gaelic.
Funny. My wife is Brazilian. Portuguese and Spanish are very different languages. However, like you, didn't learn Portuguese until I was an adult (after age 30). Yes, lots of similarities between Portuguese and Spanish - enough so that I can understand 70-80% of Spanish - but cannot speak it. I speak back in Portuguese. As you know, Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese are very different. As for Scots. Although American, I grew up in a town with a very strong Scot/Irish heritage. Almost all of my neighbors were born in Scotland or Ireland (mainly Scotland). I attended a Catholic high school in a neighboring town. Remember one day a few of my high school friends came to my house. When they arrived, I was talking to my next door neighbor (from Glasgow). After we said goodbye, my friends wanted to know "What language was I speaking" as they couldn't understand a word I said or my neighbor said....
Shaun, I’m impressed and very interested in the Scots language. I’m from Texas. We have colloquial words that are special to our part of America, but “ y’all going down yonder?” Is not a language- just local color. Thank you, Shaun!
Shaun, I know this video is about Scots, but you touched on Gaelic, and it is on you as a Scottish influencer to not let Gaelic die. It's not enough to just say "well, it's a shame" and move on. I am learning Gaelic on Duolingo. It is easy to learn, and a fun, beautiful language and deserves to be preserved as a living language for the future.
You could do some webcasts with Scottish Gaelic speakers, you're much closer to them than the rest of us are, even if you're hundreds of miles away. I was watching some RUclips videos of Psalms being sung in Gaelic at the High Kirk in Stornoway a few weeks ago. I bet there's someone who would love to come on and talk about it with your audience, or someone from the Duolingo community. All these are great ideas for things to do while you can't leave your house.
Consider this a challenge from me to you, to begin learning Gaelic in 2021.
(edit: I would LOOOVE for you to make videos in Scots, and subtitle it in English for us non-Scots speakers! Maybe not all the time, but every so often, just cut loose in your normal mode of speaking and let us learn)
I’m going to pin this as I think my reply may also be interesting to others:
I must admit I disagree. First of all I have always struggled with languages. I learned Portuguese for a solid 10 years before I could speak of - resulting in many tears and a great amount of stress and anxiety. I pushed on because I had to - so I could communicate with my in-laws. Some people are good with languages and others aren’t. I am 100% not. So my first reason would be to avoid much personal anguish. The second reason is something I’m not sure many outside of Scotland know: gaelic is a specific culture in Scotland but doesn’t necessarily represent all of Scotland. Even back in the day when many people spoke it, most in Edinburgh - where I’m from - would not. In fact, ancient Edinburghers would have known Latin before Gaelic. Gaelic highlanders and other Scots were very much different. What I’m trying to say is, Gaelic is a foreign culture to me and I don’t feel the responsibility is on me to keep it alive. That’s not to say I don’t encourage others who would like to do so - including the Scottish government. It’s just not for me. Hope that makes sense.
If I was to explain it to someone from the US - assuming you are not Native American ( forgive me if you are). It would be like me telling you to learn and preserve Native American languages. A noble cause though it is, it’s always going to be the people to whom these cultures belong who will ultimately save these languages.Gaelic is no exception.
To be clear though, I hugely support anyone and initiatives, aimed at keeping Gaelic alive and would even be happy to help in any way I can. Leaning it myself, though, is probably not something I’ll be able to do.
@@shaunvlog Fair enough. I certainly understand your perspective on this. I tried and failed to learn three different languages in school, and am only learning Gaelic as a labor of love. (Motivation is important, as you noted!) Still, I love your content, and I find Scots to be a fascinating, amazing, and infuriatingly diverse language. Please more!
@@shaunvlog They say people who struggle with languages are great at Maths, and those (like me) who have a flair for picking up different languages, are not strong with Maths, - Guess what? I hate Maths. I'll wager you Shaun will be good at Maths?
I am learning Gaelic through Duolingo, too. I normally go to Gaelic classes, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic classes were canceled (and then put online).
Scots is definitely a language.
@@brucemacallan6831 really? I didn’t know that and it doesn’t ring true for me - I am horrible at maths. I am a writer by profession and would say I’m more artistic that mathematic :)
The surest way to destroy a culture is to deny the people their language. Cling passionately to your language. Learn it, speak it, write it and damn the haters.
Marcus Gire: The only surest way to destroy a culture is to induce mixed marriages with conquerors.
John Watt i don’t think so
as i am a mix person of indian and of white or arab ( not sure where ) i loves my culture and would try to preserve it
i am sorry if u don’t like me but i don’t have no bad will towards u (i am just 17)
@@takashi.mizuiro: I don't know why you're saying I don't like you. I looked at my previous reply and I didn't even mention you. I did ask what your user name meant but you didn't answer my question. When you say Indian do you mean from India? Maybe I kaan't hear you with both my kaanu. World War 1 and World War 2 messed up a lot of families, fleeing conquerors across lands and oceans, changing names to fit in wherever they were forced to survive. Being ancestral, being cultural, means you have to want to be that way and work at it to keep it alive. Bay-an-uck-let, blessings on you in Gaelic, the language of The Garden of Eden, now known as Iraq.
John Watt ok
@@takashi.mizuiro: I'm glad I'm okay but you still didn't answer my question about your name. I got around and my ancestors got around. We might have been in your country. I can't tell if I don't know where you're coming from.
I'm delighted to see another Scot talking about the Scots language! I hope to see lots of content from Scots speaking RUclipsrs in Scots, so that we foreigners who adore the language can learn it properly! 🏴
I agree! I love Scots and would love to learn it
Scots is a language, but it had the UK government make our schools punish kids for speaking it...
Absolutely bang on. I was told NEVER to use my Scots words when I was wee. Otherwise I would be condemned for life.
I love that Scots is making a proper comeback, it's braw.
Sounds like a more modern version of England saying no Gaelic language for you buddy, speak proper English or else
Everyone should use gaelic/scots/doric or anything, bugger those who tell you otherwise! People need to let go of their cringe! My granny had gaelic cringe, told my dad not to bother teaching me but I am so thankful he did! Same with my mum in doric.
@@georgiawillis5787: The difference between Gaelic and English is not saying Proper English. There is Proper English and Standard English. Gaelic is the language of the Garden of Eden. That's why it's secretive for those who speak it.
@@johnwattdotca dinnae talk shite
@@garywilson3042: Bay-an-uck-let, blessings on you.
Dear, I am from Germany! I've spent many years in different parts of Britain, and I loved every place I've been to. BUT the only language that will ever bring a smile to my face is when I hear scottish ppl talk! It is soothing , it is kinda rough and it is so wonderful! There is a special melody to it, that always makes me feel good and smile. Smile, because it makes me comfortabel. Hope, the Independence movement will go for it and win. Hope to see you in the EU. Love ye Scots
What does that have to do with Scots
I love that you're championing Scots. I've been trying to learn Irish, and it's an uphill battle, but worth it to preserve these amazing languages and history.
My family came over from Scotland probably in the 1920s and eventually ended up in America. One year I had Thanksgiving with one of my great aunties who said grace in Gaelic. That was pretty cool.
I have some Scots words left in my family and I’m in America the verb rift means to belch or burp
My daughter just got accepted to the University of Edinburgh to continue with her Master's in Education, but with an emphasis on Gàidhlig Fluency, teaching it at the primary level. She's thrilled to get to help keep the culture alive. We love your videos 😊
Hi Shaun;
The gem in this video was the Scots/English vs Portuguese/Spanish comparison. Spot on. Happy New Year and Good Hogmanay!
Mike
I’m happy to say I already knew almost all the more common scots words you mentioned! My grand nanny from Glasgow used to write funny little poems in scots.
It’s very sad that the few people try to tell others how to speak, dress, and even think. I see it in the U.S. and apparently it’s worldwide I’ve seen lately. Keep being who you are Shawn and be proud of your heritage. I have ancestors from your beautiful Country and your language is real. Every language has slang or local dialect but it’s real and very precious to the culture. Have a wonderful New Year and let’s all pray for a better one. Bless you and your family.
Thanks for the recommendation of Iona Fyfe, her music is gorgeous. I found Len Pennie after coming across this exact conversation on twitter and I love her Scots words of the day videos
Aye aye!
Greetings from Athens Greece. I have recently discovered your channel and your videos. I really enjoy watching them all. Even though I am Greek-Canadian, I feel that my heart was born in Scotland!
I have lived for a year (1998-1999) in Stirling for my Masters degree. I cant describe how passionate I am about every aspect of this magical country. My wish one day is to live in the tiniest space in Scotland and enjoy the sights, nature, history and culture of Scotland. And a wee bit of Linguistics! If you break up the word Scot-land the first part of it is a Greek word. Scot comes from the Greek word "scotos" which means darkness. So Scotland means the land of darkness or the dark land. Since there is not so much daylight in your country in contrast to Greece. I love learning and listening to Scottish. Very musical and unique. Have a Happy New Year. May 2021 bring the best to you and your loved ones!🌜
Hi Shaun. I grew up reading "The Broons" and "Oor Wullie" and looked forward to receiving the Annuals every year from my Scottish Grandma. I loved reading them over and over, especially because they are written in 'Scots English'. I still have them (I'm approaching 60yrs old) and they are very dear to me.
I think dreich is a perfect word. I can't think of a better sounding word to describe foul weather.
I'm no expert on the subject, but to me language is like a game of telephone. As the words pass from person to person, place to place and age to age, they change. It's like everything else in the world. I believe this was particularly true before we had the means to communicate so easily on a global scale. The critical thing is that, regardless of the language, we can communicate. Without that, then all language is truly pointless.
It sounds like the English word “dreck” to me, which means worthless trash (or crap). Which also fits for a day like that.
I have said the same thing about ‘dreich’. It’s one of many onamatopoeic Scots words. My mother is from Scotland. She was born in Glasgow to her American-raised Scottish mother and her father who was was born in Glasgow but grew up around Ayrshire also. His family was from Wick up Northeast, so Doric speakers in his family. Love to hear her imitate different family members’ accents and the words they used.
@@donnaroberts281 dreck really sounds like the same word in German, which means manure. Never heard it, (Dutchie here) its it an old word?
I had the same upbringing. We spoke proper English in the house, if we spoke Scots at all we would get a right bollocking lol As a result though, everyone at school thought we were posh.... Was annoying.
Or English? I can relate to that too but the most common misconception I've had is that I'm English. To anyone non Scottish I have a strong accent though lol.
Lady Asriel: There is Proper English, said to be the language of kings, queen, judges and lawyers,
and there is General English, Shakesperian. The big difference in Proper English is saying what you mean
and meaning what you say. If you are also living a life of being open and honest it's an awe-full world.
@@belindakennedy5828: Some Scots think English made them stop wearing tartans and speaking their language, others kept doing that up north and if they weren't in Scotland. We're northern islanders and travelers. If a Scots person stands up in public to complain you know there's something wrong with that society. In northern Ontario, when Mackenzie was the first white man to traverse Canada, there's a tribe that's half Cree and half Scots, speaking a mix with some tartan wearing. I use that example because I've been there. And for all this talk about ancient technology and when gods walked the earth, we say "vir na nog", when ancients fell. For me, being a Scot is working to be who you want to be and take after.
@@johnwattdotca lol the lesson was unnecessary. When I say proper English, those were in fact the words my parents used when correcting us. “Speak proper English!” I could correct them by showing them your message but I feel it will not be beneficial 😏
I absolutely love the Scots leid. And have a few buiks in Scots. Unfortunately for me I live in nyc and don't know anyone to speak it with. So I write in English and pepper in Scots words or I try to write as much as I can in Scots instead of English for practise when journaling. Scots the mither tongue is a great resource book and history of the language and the luath Scots language learner is a great workbook that also has an accompanying double cd. (There's a slight lean towards Doric / a northeast dialect in that one) and then i watch comedy and read authors like James kelman for more of the Glaswegian dialect of Scots which is unique and colourfully descriptive. I wish there were more resources, or maybe I haven't found them yet. I hope Scots continues to thrive 🏴💚
From my experience. Im from Poland. Scottish is a real language. Independent language. Scotland have different culture then rest of UK. That’s beautiful. Thats real value. You can be proud of your culture. Well done Scotland
I'm from Lithuania and lived for a time in Scotland and very much agree.
@@tamasmarcuis4455 aye! An amazing place!
Thank you for the kind words and very glad to have you here as a new Scot 😊🇵🇱🏴
@@shaunvlog ❤️❤️❤️
I"m from Romania and sometimes I do not understand nothing from this slang. Even scotish are not understanding one each other. By a way , where is scotish language used? (not gaelic)?
Another RUclipsr once talked about the difference in Scots and English and how you have a few different letters than we do. It was a completely eyeopener. It’s not just a different accent, it is a similar but different language because you have different letters of the alphabet and letter/character combos. Which made your language that much cooler in my eyes. Totally an 😳
Shaun... thank you for this! I just found out a couple of months ago that I am pretty close to a third Scottish. I'm loving these videos about Scots. I'm taking some of the more fun expressions and inserting them into my daily conversations. I love my Scottish heritage and am very proud. I grew up in Kelso, Washington... the founder of our town was from Kelso, Scotland. I soak up just about everything Scottish I can find. This was awesome!
English has many words that come from other languages. So I would say that doesn't make Scots any less a language
It was my mothers' clan system that gave the world the Holy Bible in English. Scots also invented
the encyclopedia, creating the Encyclopedia Britannica, so the people of England and the continent
could learn that the peoples of the "new world" weren't just running dogs with no language or prayer,
how empire building countries portrayed them. The publishing of the Merriam-Webster English
dictionary also helped shape the prophesied global language, and that's not the American Webster.
@@johnwattdotca Scots did not invent the Encyclopedia... Just google it.
Every language has loan words. (Except maybe for Basque, but that's another story). Half the Russian vocabulary on words relating to ships is Dutch, thanks to Peter the Great.
What evolves into a language, and what into a dialect, or goes extinct, has a lot to do with who's king, or most influential. Latin wasn't the language in pre Roman Italy before the guys from Rome became boss. France had a lot of languages; all died out because Paris was thát important, and actively oppressed the others.
Very interesting video Shaun! And the comments are great too! I love the history of your languages. Speak how you want, but don't every lose your great accent!
I love watching your videos about the places of Scotland, but I appreciate these so much more! Soon we'll be in Europe and having RUclipsrs such as yourself has been SO helpful to understand the culture 💛
Look forward to having yous here, you’ll be most welcome 😊
An American here. I absolutely love the Scottish accent, and I also love to hear the Scots language. I'm glad so many younger people are embracing Scots.
Well said Shaun. Interesting watching your journey to becoming proud of your culture and heritage.
Awesome. “Ken” has basically the exact same meaning in Dutch
There's a sort of sliding scale between Dutch and English, where Frisian and Scots are both in between, but Frisian is closer to Dutch and Scots is closer to English. It's pretty neat to listen to and compare these four languages.
Also German, kennen: to know. ich kenne, du kennst, etc. a phrase like 'Kennst du ...?' would be more likely understood in Edinburgh than London. :)
My son is a linguist, doing a Masters in Arabic in Leiden. He tells me there's lots of words in Dutch that are similar to Scots, eg we might say "tak a keek" meaning take a look - kijken in Dutch. He speaks 8 languages and says Dutch was the easiest to learn by far as it's so like Scots!
Also in French. If you say « je ken ta soeur », it basically means you know her.. 😈
@Ua Ruaidrí well it would mean you do in a « biblical » way…😅
Maybe do a short video of you talking to a friend in Scots with subtitles for fun.
This video was great content and the comments section very enlightening!
Sounds to me that Scots would be the older language, and English borrowed words from it... and did its best to kill it off.
Sad to hear about Gaelic, that there are so few that speak it.
Goes to show how important it is to keep traditions alive: to connect us to our past and forget from whence we came.
Thanks for your video!
Scots was a variety of English, heavily influenced by Scottish. It is a bit more archaic than other English variants. But they were just the northernmost English.
Gaelic speaker here! I like to be optimistic - my language has survived despite how hard oppressors have tried to kill it off.
@@jonathonfrazier6622 If Scots is older that would be proof it's a language.
@@777theprophet its archaic. Meaning where other forms of English changed over time, this particular variant changed at a slower pace. For instance, there are things in both American and British English that the other would consider archaic. But they are both still English. Scots is a seperate language in my opinion, to to low mutual intelligibility. But it once was English.
@@jonathonfrazier6622 There are significant differences between Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. It would be more correct to say that Modern English and Scots are both descendants of Middle English. Both having numerous other influences that shaped their development. To say that "Scots was a variety of English" is to make the same mistake as to say that humans evolved from chimpanzees. In fact both evolved from a common ancestor.
When I started teaching in West Virginia in the 70's, the area was exceedingly isolated, and there was no radio or television access. A number of the original settlers had been Scotch-Irish, and there were still a number of the words used that you just went over today, including dreich, and ken, and dinna. When my husband and I were fortunate enough to visit Scotland in 19, I purchased a tote and a tea towel which had Scots words, several of which I could understand because of the holdover in WV. Unfortunately, when television and radio came to the area, much of that heritage was lost. When we went to Cape Breton in 18, gaelic was being spoken, written, and preserved. I hope Scotland continues to hold on to, and bring back, these languages which are heritage to be proud of. When Covid is over, we hope to again come to Scotland, and continue my learning about my heritage there.
Pick up "From Ulster to America" by Micheal Montgomery
Scots language is/was all over appalachia/u.s. via Ulster scots.
It's 'Dinna' up our way (the 'a' on the end is a very flat sound) as opposed to 'dinnae'
Dinna cowp at plate min ere's o'er mony tatties in't. Hud her gyaan stracht oot ih gate past yon gyaan aboot hens.
Moggan: The people of the town of Peterhead are referred to by others of the region as 'Bluemogners' (Blue Mogganers) This comes from the 1800's and the whaling industry when (for some reason) the whalers/Sailors of the town went to sea wearing blue leggings or socks. I'm not from there originally, I'm from 16 miles up the road from the town we call 'The Broch' (Fraserburgh) and get what our nick name is as 'Brochers' - 'Puddle-Stinkers' LOL.
Bruce MacAllan - Very interesting. I am going to look into it. To me, there is no guessing why a sailor would wear wool sock or leggings to sea.
Now back. Cool. I could only find it by Peterhead, but that worked. It is just as you said, but the spellings are a bit different, but close enough for the girls we go out with. I never knew of such a thing. There are so many variants of wool that I barely knew of.
I am allergic to nearly every wool, but my sister said, I have a llama wool yarn that I bet you will not be allergice to, and she knit me a cap of it. She was right.
In my generation, leg warmers, of whatever, were supposed to be 'gay', and even tho I'm straight, I have a lot of gay friends. I still love them, including my gay friends in cold weather (meant as a joke). I am wearing wool socks over cotton at this moment, leg warmers on the side. It gets cold here.
As to sexuality, as Janis once sang, 'Get it while you can'. In my opinon, love is hard enough to find.
I work in east lothian and all my colleagues speak like that and I love it.
Dinna is still in currency in the northeast in Doric. Dinna, winna and hinna.
They use it in Sunderland England too. Divent in Newcastle. That's because Scots is s dialect of English.
@@Cartamandua The Swedish at the border of Norway has a lot more evident similarities with neighbouring varieties of Norwegian. Doesn't it make it a dialect of Norwegian. Stick to subjects not beyond your depth.
@@Cartamandua ye’re talkin’ shite, hen.
Great video Shaun, thanks for sharing. My cousins grew up speaking Scots but like you were discouraged in school from from speaking it.
At school in fife in the nineties we were taught to speak, read and write in both Scots and English
Beyond Our Ken (1958-64) was a radio comedy programme, the predecessor to Round the Horne (1965-68). Both programmes starred Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee, with announcer Douglas Smith. Musical accompaniment was provided by the BBC Revue Orchestra. The title is a pun on the first name Kenneth, which hinges on the familiar expression 'beyond our ken' (ken being a now mainly Northern English and Scots word meaning 'knowledge or perception').
Hey Shaun. A very nice video! You mentioned many things on the Scots language and psyche that are common here in Southern Appalachia: amongst ourselves, we speak at least some non standard English, our culture is looked down upon by the more "proper" parts of the country, and we are fiercely proud of the our differences from the the rest of the country. While you were in North Carolina, did you notice this?
You mention using language suited to the audience. I work in a multi national and multi regional company. When it is a group of us natives, we speak Hillbilly. When it is with a group of the higher level MGT, we speak std English with a smattering of their dialect, and with all others we use std English. I think linguists call this code switching.
Its Scots language via the Scotch-irish /Ulster Scots
read "From Ulster to America" by Michael Montgomery
No one is sure about the exact origins of "hill-billie" but you have both the Williamites (billy boys) and the Scots word for "friend/comrade" which is "Billie". Likewise "cracker" is a loud/boaster/talker and to this day "crack" is news +entertainment+talking in Ireland+Scotland. via Scots+english, borrowed into gaelic as 'craic' in the 1970's.
As someone from the red clay of rural Georgia I have to say your perception of "proper" parts of the country vs "where you are", being "fiercely proud of differences" is just in your head. I have that pride of place and dialect and heritage anywhere I live and in each part of the u.s. as I've been to nearly every state people have their own cultures, from towns to regions to counties. Language and dialects of english alone in the u.s. is very diverse.
Y'all (ye aa/ye aw) , Y'uns, ye anes (yinz/yuns) are both Scots via the scotch irish.
Have a great Hogmonay friend, and a happy and blessed New Year
I’ve heard that English and Scots are two separate languages which both came from a common root language, but split and evolved separately into their own languages as we know them today.
I really enjoyed this vlog, i found it very interesting and was supprised to learn that a few of those words were used by my parents. I grew up with them without knowing their origin. I have Scots heritage but it was so far back that I am impressed that these few words that I knew, traced back 100's of years.
I'm the kind of person who can go to an area, and in about 3 months or so, just by listening, can be 'mistaken' for a native. Now, this was in North America. Moved to British Columbia, Canada. After roughly 3 months, folks could have sworn I was a Canadian from BC. Same thing in North Carolina. It was fun. And pretty satisfying!
I encourage y'all to preserve it !!!!!!
Here in Virginia there is an island in the Chesapeake Bay that was populated by several families back before the Revolution. They stay pretty isolated and speak an earlier version of English. Very unique accent but the words sound like in a Shakespeare play.
Some people,on the Appalachian also speak an older version of English. This is changing, though. Sadly.
I love it! As an American, I have to listen hard to understand someone with a good rolling brogue, but I do OK. But I have a friend who'll then throw in a bit of Scots just to keep me humble. I maybe understand one or two words. Now, with your assistance, maybe I'll answer back "Ach, hen, I dinnae ken what you seid," to make her laugh. I hope I can get back to delightful and delicious Scotland this next year! I miss you guys!
Makes me a bit happy. Noticing Scots words in ‘Outlander’!
When I joined the army I ended up with quite a few Scottish friends. One day a friends wife was having coffee with my wife and ay about 3pm she said, " well I must be getting off I need to be away and get my messages" are you going to the post office said, my wife? No, I want some links for Toms tea. It turned out that her messages was a shopping list and the links were sausages. Thanks for the video, I was feeling a bit Peely-wally before I watched this video now I'm fine. :)
Great blog Shaun. I worked with Scottish soldiers in Iraq who spoke alot of Scot's. I didn't understand them but I thought it was interesting. Of course they spoke English when they talked to me.
I have to write a term paper about the Scots Language. This is destiny! Thank you!
Cool! Where are you studying?
micht I suggest ye gie a wee follae on Twitter tae Lenniesaurus an forbye hae a luikie at an buy the buiks by Billy Kay anent the Scots Leid. There is Scots Online, an the Scotls Language Centre an al, an the Scots Leid Associe, an ae-twa fora on FB wi ae focus on the Scots Leid. Dr Michael Dempster his ae series o lecturs on RUclips aboot Scots. Alistair Heather o the Elphinstone Institute is ae ither chiel that kens a guid amoont anent Scots, an the Elphinstone Institute (U of A) itsel is set up, wi the School o Scottish Studies (at the U of E) tae forder the leid Kist o Riches (Tobar an deuchais) is ae source o reordit ensaumples o baith Scots an Gaelic, An oor bonnie quinie, Iona Fyfe is ae ambassador for the Scots Leid an a
@@klcpesan I study Linguistics in southern Bavaria :) I chose a seminar with the title 'Dialects of the British Isles' and considered analysing how Gaelic, Scottish and British English are used in Outlander. But since I have to hold a presentation about Scots, I want to deepen it in a term paper. Sigh, such a beautiful language
@@rosaalbamacdonald5568 I have to admit I didn't understand everything, but just trying to read your comment brings a smile of joy to my face. Thank you very much! I will try my best to follow your advice
@@rosaalbamacdonald5568 “hae a luikie at” is something I say often in English. I spell it “lookee” but it should probably be “lookie”.
Ancestry says I have about 30% Scotland DNA. My grandfather was a Burns, so of course we are supposedly related to Rabbie Burns. I’ve been doing genealogy for 40+ years and I’ve never found the connection. Nevermind that my Burns ancestors were in Pennsylvania before Rabbie Burns was alive...
I loved this, Sean. This is reminding me of when I was a younger kid visiting my grandparents in the SE of the state of Kentucky. The people of my grandparents generation would often use words that were not in general use in the rest of the U.S., especially in the Chicago area where I grew up. I would recognize immediately when listening to them speak that the words weren't broadly used in the general conversation that I was used to hearing back home. Since I was rather young at the time, I really didn't think about "recording" these conversations just to have documentation of those really old words. I wish I could have. Now that generation of people are now gone & the people of my generation and beyond just don't use those old words anymore. They've all been influenced by T.V. and radio speech & you just do not hear the old words that were quite common amongst the older generation (these would be the people born around 1900 & older, etc). I can't even think of the old words I used to hear anymore. So sad. I do remember hearing the word "aye" used for yes! And the word "nay" for no. Amazing to still hear those words commonly used in the mid-1960s back when I was a kid visiting my grandparents in the Appalachian region of Kentucky.
Its Scots language via Scots-Irish of Ulster, from West PA down to the South, midland and out west.
See 'From Ulster to America' by Michael Montgomery
Some of the earliest Ulster scots settled in New Hampshire.
Hiberno-irish of the 19th century influence on cities like Chicago, Nyc, boston, NJ etc.
A textbook on linguistics I read once once described Scots (or Lowland Scots) as a separate language to English because of grammar and vocabulary differences. There are obviously similarities too. The textbook said there was as much difference between the two as between Dutch and German which are generally regarded as two different languages although they also have similarities. Dialects do become different languages after time and isolation. But Scots has different roots to English as well, more Germanic than Norman French, perhaps?
Shaun - I’m fascinated by this subject. Please do another but this time include whole phrases and sentences. This Yank is dying to hear the overall rhythm and sound. And thank you for covering Outlander so beautifully.
Very interesting video. I really enjoyed it! Many of the words I recognize since watching Outlander.
It is so fascinating!! I love the different languages!!
Ae thing - dinna say thit fowk dinna say dinna ;) It's definitely mair o a Doric word, but certainly no a thing o the past. Dinna is maistly NE. Same wi 'didna'.
'Div' and 'Divna' as well (I'm from NE Buchan, and was raised in the 1960's speaking my grandparents/parents tongue)
Hahah. Well - quite difficult to understand your answer. But thats Scottish language 🤷 i wish to have this level of Scottish language
The -na ending is common in Orcadian for negatives: widna, deudna, couldna etc. Also Orkney folk use -an where English has -in, e.g. winderan, dooan. spikan.
I'm blessed, gaelic speaker from my dad's side and a doric speaker on my mum's side!
Fit like quine
Really interesting. I grew up in Australia as a child of Scottish parents who met in Australia. Mother from Hamilton and Father from Stevenston. They also belonged to Caledonian Societies as I grew up so I understand most Scottish language, but I must admit I did not know the words which you mentioned were from Edinburgh. I'm guessing that's because my parents were from the west coast. Scottish is definitely a language, which also contains different dialects, slang, etc. I would like to look into this more and I hope you could include more about this on your channel. Thankyou for sharing.
As an older Scot I well remember back in the 1960’s at primary school being punished by teachers if we spoke lallans/ Doric/ Lowlands Scots.
As the years went past I heard less and less of the language of my parents and grandparents.
When I see videos like this I nearly weep at the loss of those words I used to hear as a bairn ( child).
While I don’t understand all of the words used in Rabbie Burns poem I did know at least most but I’m thinking the younger generations would find it difficult to understand.
There has been a systematic attempt of cultural genocide by the English, Anglo Scots and those who fawn to the powers that be and it’s time for a renaissance.
More videos like this young man
And
Lang may your lum reek!
You cleared up some of my thoughts about understanding Scots . The difference between it and Gaelic . Thanks son . You’re a good kid .
Scottish gaelic is the branch of Gaeigle ('irish') the Q-celtic branch of indo european.
Scots is from the west Germanic branch of old english/anglish and northumbrian.
Another thought. You gave a few examples of Scots words fallen, or more likely pushed out. If these are well enough recorded and attested it provides a great resource of vocabulary. Some of the countries which attained of restored independence had trouble reviving their languages because they lacked vocabulary beyond simple daily conversation. Scots definitely does not have that problem. Outside international technological and scientific vocabulary, you have Scots words for everything. As well as Scots invented a lot of the tech and science language.
And Ulster Scots in Ulster. That is Ireland. Ulster scots is the dialects native to Ireland.
Thank you for making this video
I wanted some knowledge on this subject !
From what I gather is English and Scots developed together from AngloSaxon roots but when English went through the great vowel shift and began to incorporate more borrowed Latin based words they diverge drastically.
gin ye wad lairn mair anent this ye shud seek oot the buiks o Billy Kay,
That is what I was taught as well.
That was very interesting to me ! I am a citizen of the USA . Enjoy your channel !
My son's father came here to Canada when he was 4 or 5 and he was put back a few grades in school because they did not understand his way of speaking. He was so cute. I could never understand his father he spoke so fast and he spoke I do believe the Gaelic Scottish. He was born in Edinburgh. My family is from Glasgow. I think he told me his father played professional Rugby or Soccer....it was over 35 years ago now so I don't remember. By the way my son is your twin he is 34. He has the reddish hair and red beard and he is the only one. LOL now I know why. Its the Scottish in him! Great chat.
I am impressed as hell that you can speak Portuguese, Scots and English. My mind couldn't contain that all.
I enjoyed today show, I'm always learning something new. 😸
This was a great video. Very interesting and informative 👍
I saw a video on RUclips in which an interviewer asked Scottish people on the street whether they could speak Scots. Every one of them knew what the interviewer was talking about. They all recognized that he was not talking about Scottish English. Some said they could speak Scots; others said they couldn't. He then asked the Scots-speakers whether Scots was its own language or a dialect of English, and every one of them acted like they'd never even heard those words, at least not as related to Scots. It was like a cow looking at a new gate. Every single one of them said, "Scots is the way we speak." But they all said that, whatever it was, it was a distinct thing and not simply Scottish English. I found it amusing that they wouldn't even try to answer the question--like they'd never heard such an absurd thing.
Love your accent and I believe there is probably a mixture of words used from other countries and dialects. Interesting show.
I watched your Arizona box opening episode and loved it! Can't believe you don't get all those things though. Bummer :(
Scots is like Norwegian, there are so many dialects that even the next town over might not say words the same, let alone north/south or east/west. There are plenty of things that are said in Scots that link back to some of what is said here. I am an American and learning Norwegian has allowed me to understand a lot of the proto-germanic languages that then later went Germanic. Scots is very much a language and anyone who speaks it should be proud to do so.
Fascinating. I don’t think any language should be allowed to fade away....!
I totally believe that Scots is a national language and not a dialect! Although, growing up in Edinburgh I was always told to speak 'properly'... Now I realise that I actually was already!
Its spoken in Donegal (ROI) and Northern Ireland as well. its a transnational language not bound by Scotlands borders. Gaelic is spoken in Nova Scotia as well..
I just downloaded the Iona Fyfe song of Amazon. Its abit more pricey than a typical 99 cent (USD) MP3, but sooo worth it. Thanks for the recommendation, Mr. Shaun.
Thanks, great great commentary. Thanks.
Strangely enough I know all of the words that you listed first (common use), and a few of the last section (more rarely heard). Strange because I've never been to Scotland. I did live in the Virginia highlands until I was 10 and still have family living there. That part of the State was settled primarily by Scots and a few Irish, and evidently the Scots language was at least partially in common use until two generations ago. Almost the only part of it that still lingers now is the addition of "na," as in "wouldna" or "couldna."
This reminds me of what people in Spain who spoke Galician, Catalan, and othersxwent through during Franco's dictatorship: they weren't allowed to teach their language at school, and weren't supposed to speak it at home, either. It continues to influence attitudes to this day.
I've a friend in the north (just outside Aberdeen). Traveling around with her youngest to job sites my first full day, I noticed how the Doric was more pronounced when one of the guys from work called him on the phone vs when he was talking to me. Seems like it would be enough to make a person schizophrenic after a while.
Because of this friend, I use "driech"(like you, I find it phonetically perfect for ehat it's describing), "blether", and "numpty" on the regular. "Crabbit" still hasn't worked its way in yet. 😄
Shaun, would you know of any authors who write in Scots? I read Anne Donovan's "Buddha Da",and enjoyed that(although it wasn't written in proper full-on Scots, I don't think). Would love to read others, if you or your viewers have any suggestions.
Yup, my gaelic grandparents were beaten at school if they used it. So they were fluent but could not read or write in gaelic. I'm living just outside Aberdeen (my mum is doric speaking) and dreich is the most useful word 😂
@@klcpesan where are ya? My friend's in Inverurie, 1 stop away from Dyce
@@LindaC616 no way! I'm Kintore!
@@klcpesan 🙂 I had to look that up to see where it was, as it didn't sound familiar (though Denhead does). I was there supposedly for a few days, but she wanted me to stay the entire 10. Traveled around pretty much the north coast to coast with her son the first day, checking on job sites and keeping him awake while driving. Another day, we went to Skye and back (same day, as she was hosting an AFS student from Hong Kong, so thatcwould have meant 2 hotel rooms). And the student and I were down to Edinburgh one day on the bus, back the same day. Sadly, didn't see much of Aberdeen or Skye! Next time! 🙂
@@LindaC616 very cool!
Happy New Year!
Hi Shaun! I’d love to hear your take on Viking/Scandinavian influences on Scottish culture.
As a child growing up in Dunfermline, my mother often told me to speak properly. So in school, I was taught English. With my friends, I spoke Scots.
There is a political side to this. We have been taught that `Scots is slang and we’re not properly educated if we speak it. My job involves speaking to people all over the UK on the phone. I often put in a Scots word or two and it seems appreciated.
In the early days of broadcasting a specific kind of English was used. Lord Reith, a Scot, was the worst (I think) for holding down Scots and Scotland. We got the White Heather Club with traditional dancing, music and, of course, kilts and tartan. And up until recently Scots were portrayed as drunkards, thieves and ne’er do wells. This carried over to accents and language.
All my life I’ve spoken Scots and I’ve used Scots slang as well. Our language doesn’t just derive from English. We have French, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, German, Gaelic, Polish etc as well. We have traded internationally and people have moved here from abroad. They’ve all left their mark. I love my language and use and promote it whenever and wherever I can.
Great that you are doing things like this. Keep it up. Stay safe❣️
Great video!
I find this discussion fascinating! As an African American, I have been a part of similar conversations as it pertains to what many consider slang or improper English and the African American community. Many linguists would consider the "slang" that some African Americans speak to be it's own dialect, African American Vernacular English (AAVE). It has rules and structure, much the same way I assume Scotts has. I also find this conversation fascinating because Scotts in the UK is viewed much the same way AAVE is in the US. It's kind of looked down upon as being lower class, spoken by the poor and or uneducated when it should simply be viewed as it's own dialect or language.
I wonder if “radge” comes from the same root as “raszh” in Russian, meaning “mushroom crazy” or “crazy about mushroom foraging.”
Radge from either romany or traveller cant "rage" "raj"
Shaun - I'm pretty sure that you have heard of a Fox hunt, but have you ever seen one?
About 35 years ago, my wife to be and I, were living in the Slave Quarters of an old estate, on the north shore of LI, NY, by the kindness of others. We were a few blocks from the local waters, and only lived there by the will of others. We knew the people around enough that we were given their blessing. We paid small rent, but caretakered as well.
In the community of such 30 acre farms, or more, that surrounded us, we were newbies. There was a tradition of a 'Fox Hunt', as we came to know.
They came to our door, people we knew, to warn us that next Saturday they would be doing a Fox Hunt that ran thru our property, so, best to keep your dog and cat indoors. Why, I asked? My dog is 3 times or more the size of the little Beagles you run around. Yeah, but they are crazed and run in a pack. So, I took their advice.
There were a few fox around, very few, but that is not the point. Someone would take a sack soaking of fox urine (the source of which I don't know), and ran it around the grounds for the dogs to trace. As a pack of dogs, as my near wife and I went out to observe, they were quite manic about it.
Of course, there was no Fox in reality, but the small Hounds tracked it to a particular tree. Someone would take a ceremonial shot to the tree that the sack had been tied up to, and that was the end of the story. No fox, dog or cat, being harmed in the story.
Interesting tho, they were all dressed up in what I could only call proper British horse riding gear, soup to nuts, helmets and pantaloons. So odd, as they otherwise didn't do that, but for the fox hunt. There was a tradition and formality about it.
Love this stuff!!
Doric is my local tongue but we were not allowed to use it in school. I went to a former all girls grammer which became a bit of a posh comprehensive
I live in North Carolina where a lot of the dialect (I'm now learning) originated from the Scottish settlers. (My husband's family were some of the Scottish who settled here in the 1700's.)
Along with what you said in your video, the English descendants always say that North Carolinians sound uneducated. I know this first hand as my ancestors were English settlers in New York. I was not born in NC and was told not to talk with the"Southern Dialect" (as I've now learned is Scottish) after we moved here. I didn't begin speaking the NC way for years and years due to my family saying it wasn't proper English.
Now, knowing it's origin, I gladly speak with Southern dialect.
After studying the history of what the English did to Scottish culture there, I do hope that the language and dialect are revived in Scotland.
(Also, I teach English to U.S. immigrants 😉)
Love languages, love accents! Thank you!
Interesting video, radge is also used in Northumberland/Newcastle also means someone who is a bit crazy.
First of all my pajama pants have the exact tartan print as your shirt.
I'm from New Orleans but i'm in daily contact with my friend in Edinburgh. Who i have either said madainn mhath or feasgar math for the last 2 years. She has educated me on some of those words like dreich and aye and haar we use the words when talking to each other. I'm gonna incorporate aye right in there. There's another phrase. Not sure of the spelling haud yer weesht or weest i forget. Love the video and learning more words.
"Radge" is from Romany "Raj" - with the same meaning. I've yet to see a detailed explanation of why Edinburgh Scots has so many words from the Roma, e.g. "Gadgie." Was there a settlement of travelling people that stopped travelling and settled in the Niddrie area? When I was a kid, those words were pretty much confined to folk from Niddrie, then, in the 60s, it began to be fashionable for young people to use them more generally. I remember thinking it funny that middle-class Edinburgh kids were using what we called "Hawker Talk" or "the Cant."
A lot of the words you seem to think are our versions of Modern English words are nothing of the sort. "Heid" is a prime example. It's a continuation of the Middle English pronunciation of "Head."
Both Scots and English descend from dialects of Middle English that went down different evolutionary paths. Our version, "heid", actually precedes the modern pronunciation common in England. We didn't borrow it and change it, it's always been "heid."
Radge and gadgie are Geordie words as well. Probably similar origins.
That’s an interesting observation, that people assume Scots is borrowing from English were as you contend that both languages developed it from Middle English. That makes complete sense.
I can say being a Portuguese speaker and then a Spanish speaker that’s there explanation for the common vocabulary words and 75% common grammar between those languages because they were derived from Latin.
I think you have explained the likely scenario.
'radge' is a variant of 'rage', related to the English word 'rage'
@@brianlewis5692 Makes sense, Romany "Raj" really means "Lordly" - obviously related to the Hindi word (Gypsy ancestry has been traced back to what is now Rajasthan). There might be some conflation of the two given that a haughty demeanour is often associated with short temper. Other Romany terms in Edinburgh dialect nowadays are "Barry/Barra" - good or great (from Romany "Baro" with the same meaning - compare Hindi "Burra" as in "Burra Sahib"), "Chory" - to steal, and "Chavvy" - a young lad. These appear in other dialects in these islands, e.g. in SE England, "Chav" has taken on the meaning of a rather vulgar young person - perhaps because gypsies tended to dress flashily? "Gadgie" occurs elsewhere with varying meanings. It derives from Romany "Gacho" or "Gadjo" meaning a male non-gypsy, but in Edinburgh has come to mean any man. When I lived in Spain, I was intrigued to discover the use of words like "Gachó" - non-gypsy man (although "Payo" is more common), and "Chaval" for a young lad is now seen as a fully Spanish word.
You must also remember the Union of the Crowns in 1603 saw the migration of Court away from Edinburgh and Stirling to London. As a partial result of this Scots ceased to be the language of State and Government and was gradually replaced by English.
Och aye! Scots is ma fave. A proudly uise it whenever a kin. Same wi Gaelic. It's joost pure magic 🏴 💗
Hey Shaun! I have heard about this argument before, but I think Scots is recognised as a language separated from English by linguists that study languages in the UK, and there is a theory that actually if you would not be part of the UK and out of English influence, the Scots language would have kept on evolving until it was too different from English to be considered slang.
There are a number of languages like that everywhere in the world, and it's good that you mentioned Portuguese and Spanish. I speak Spanish and I can understand a lot of Portuguese, but I don't know if you have heard of Gallego or Galego (Galician)? So the issue with this language is that you could really think it is Spanish or Portuguese with different accent, but it is actually a separate language from both, recognised in Spain as a separate language from the Autonomous Community of Galicia, it is spoken and promoted in the media as its own. So I believe in the case of Scots, it would be good if the language would be promoted as an actual separate language and maybe some norms developed for it, as they have done in Spain with all these languages that they try to keep alive. Maybe more promotion and use in poetry and literature, etc. Anyway, thanks for the video and take care during the lockdown!
How you describe the attitude to Scots can be found in many places. It was how Lithuanian for hundreds of years. It is how Frisian is treated in the Netherlands. You can find the most extreme held by people who abandoned their language for another spoken by the ruling elite or the country that controlled them. My parents still speak about a man who though born Lithuanian and raised with the language tried to avoid speaking it as much as possible. Even going as far as trying to stop his own family speaking Lithuanian at home. Of course the USSR government eagerly encouraged this particularly against language minorities inside Russia.
Loved this!
There is a dialect of English spoken by very few now. It is mostly heard in certain parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. It's called "Mushmouth". I've heard it spoken by 2 different people that I have met over my life. I could only make out about 75% of what there were saying, and even that was difficult. I think you have a wonderful accent and would love to hear you speak Scots in your videos or even learn a bit of Gaelic.
Before I moved to America in 2009, there was a census done and one of the questions was “so you speak Scots?” And I very proudly said yes!!!!
Thank you, this is very interesting and thoughtful.☮️🇨🇦
Funny. My wife is Brazilian. Portuguese and Spanish are very different languages. However, like you, didn't learn Portuguese until I was an adult (after age 30). Yes, lots of similarities between Portuguese and Spanish - enough so that I can understand 70-80% of Spanish - but cannot speak it. I speak back in Portuguese.
As you know, Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese are very different.
As for Scots. Although American, I grew up in a town with a very strong Scot/Irish heritage. Almost all of my neighbors were born in Scotland or Ireland (mainly Scotland). I attended a Catholic high school in a neighboring town. Remember one day a few of my high school friends came to my house. When they arrived, I was talking to my next door neighbor (from Glasgow). After we said goodbye, my friends wanted to know "What language was I speaking" as they couldn't understand a word I said or my neighbor said....
Shaun, I’m impressed and very interested in the Scots language. I’m from Texas. We have colloquial words that are special to our part of America, but “ y’all going down yonder?” Is not a language- just local color. Thank you, Shaun!